Les Miserables

When it was released, I was very keen to see Les Miserables, but unfortunately didn't get the chance to see it. When I did get the chance to see it I was looking forward to what promised to be a fantastic film adaptation of a musical that I have never been fortunate enough to see. However, by the time I had sat through the entirety of the film I was bitterly disappointed.

There is no denying that the plot is fantastic, and would look absolutely incredible in the theatre with the right direction. However, the film was, in my opinion, a very poor adaptation of this. It was long, and very drawn out, and I didn't think that it flowed very well at all. It was disjointed and difficult to see how it all fitted together. When Anne Hathaway appeared at the end of the film I felt it had been so very long ago that I was watching her struggle with the life she was confronted with. There was no explanation for many of the character’s actions. For example, why was Javert chasing Valjean for stealing bread and breaking his parole at least twenty years after the act had occurred? The film started really well, and I was very enthusiastic about what seeing the rest of the film. However, I thought it went downhill quite quickly. I’m well aware that I face the fury of the mega-fans of Les Mis, and am probably going to come across as uncultured in my criticism of this film, but I really didn't enjoy it.

Hugh Jackman is a fantastic actor, and this should not be news to many. In Les Miserables, he does not disappoint, and lives up to his acting past. He has an acceptable voice, but the main problem is that I didn't think he had any gravity to his character. There was no sense of him ‘owning’ the screen in my opinion, whereas there was with, and I cannot believe I am going to say this, Russell Crowe. Whenever Russell Crowe was on screen there was a certain level of tension. However, I was rooting for Valjean in his attempts to do what was best for Cosette. Now I’d like to point out that Russell Crowe having a presence on screen does not mean that I think he was especially good in this film. Actually, as ever, he royally annoyed me. He cannot sing for toffee, and was a poor choice to be cast as Javert for this reason. Recently it was pointed out to me that I can’t criticise the actors for being unable to sing in this film, because they are not singers. I think this is rubbish. While the film should have been cast more towards singers than Hollywood stars, the actors still accepted the role. Russell Crowe appeared similar to many of the previous characters he has played and was wooden and staunch in a role that deserved much more character.

The big talking point of this Les Mis film was Anne Hathaway, and she was incredible as Fantine. However, this was spoiled for me by the fact that she wasn't on screen for very long. No obviously this is not something that can be helped, because that’s the story. The emotion that Hathaway puts into ‘I Dreamed A Dream’ alone deserves the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, and there is very little criticism that I can bring to Hathaway for this role. She was the main reason that I enjoyed the first half hour of the film so much, but by the time she makes a re-appearance it seemed like half a lifetime ago that she was singing.

Both Amanda Seyfried and Eddie Redmayne do well in this film, and Redmayne in particular has a cracking voice on him. However, the film did not give enough time for me to care about the outcome of their relationship. Throughout their ‘courting’ I found myself thinking ‘But didn't they just look at each other?’ Now I’m sure this adds to the romance of their relationship, but I just felt sorry for Eponine, who had been in love with Marius before Cosette glanced at him. Nonetheless, Amanda Seyfried (who has a surprisingly difficult name to type) is actually quite perfectly matched to the role of Cosette and does a very good job.

In my opinion though, by far and away the best performances of the film come from Sacha Baron-Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter. Both actors provide light relief and a touch of humour from the monotony of much of film. The moment when Baron-Cohen calls Cosette ‘Courgette’ was wonderful, and both characters are clearly meant as a more light-hearted addition to the cast. Having sat through much of the film, I was delighted to see Baron-Cohen and Bonham Carter re-appear at the wedding of Marius and Cosette. Anne Hathaway aside, I think these two characters were the two I enjoyed most.

There is no doubt that the whole soundtrack is exceptional, and the scale of the musical adaptation is incredible. But I just didn't enjoy it at all. I’m probably spoiled somewhat by the fact I haven’t seen the theatre production, but I thought the whole thing was poorly done. Just because a film has a grand scale, fantastic cast and wonderful costume and set design does not mean that it is fantastic, and after looking forward to seeing the film so much I was very disappointed by this version of it. Ultimately, a film should not have to rely on its audience having previously seen the production or read the book in order to understand who is who and what is going on, and this is the main criticism I have of this film.

The 85th Academy Awards Special

Well it was the Academy Awards last night, and while I wasn't able to watch the ceremony, I was following avidly on twitter. There were a few surprises, a few obvious winners, and a few questionable decisions, but that was to be expected. Life of Pi turned out to be the big winner, bagging 4 awards having been nominated for 11. I’m going to attempt to give you a few of my thoughts on the winners and losers, and I’m going to skip over a few of the awards that it would be wrong for me to talk about.

So, not having seen any of the films in the category, I don’t feel suitably qualified to talk about Best Live Action Short Film, Best Animated Short Film, Best Feature Documentary, Best Short Subject Documentary, or Best Animated Feature. What I will say though is that it didn't surprise me that Brave won this award.

In terms of the award for Best Visual Effects there was only going to be one winner for me. While the visual effects in The Hobbit, The Avengers and Prometheus were incredible (and I haven’t seen Snow White and the Huntsman so I can’t comment on that), Life of Pi absolutely eclipses anything that these films could do. This was perhaps the most obvious winner of the night for me, and it completely deserves its success. Life of Pi also won the award for Best Cinematography which I thought was interesting. This was perhaps one of the closest awards of the night, because any of the five nominees (Life of Pi, Anna Karenina, Django Unchained, Lincoln and Skyfall) could feasibly have won. After I saw Anna Karenina, and after slating the film because I thought it to be very weak, the best thing I could say about it was that the cinematography was brilliant. However, that doesn't mean that the cinematography of Life of Pi wasn't  and so this is another deserved award. In terms of Best Original Score, I thought Life of Pi was, again, a deserving winner. The other films in this category just didn't quite match up for me, and Mychael Danna deserves the credit (and the award) for creating the soundtrack for Life of Pi. Finally, Ang Lee won the Best Director award for Life of Pi, and I have to say I was a bit surprised at this. I was sure Steven Spielberg would be nailed on for this award for Lincoln. However, having seen Life of Pi, I’m sure there are very few that would begrudge Ang Lee his second award for Best Director.

Lincoln bagged two awards last night, after having been nominated for 12. For many people, Lincoln was the favourite to sweep the board and win more than it did. Now I haven’t seen Lincoln, so I’m going to have to keep this relatively brief. In terms of Best Production Design I’m sure the production of Lincoln was fantastic, but Life of Pi, Les Miserables and The Hobbit are all films which are fantastically produced. I’m sure that this decision is justified, but I need to see it to make a judgement. Believe me, Lincoln is high up the ‘films I want to see’ list. I didn't think the decision to hand Daniel Day-Lewis the Best Actor award was particularly surprising. At the end of the day, Bradley Cooper was never going to win for a rom-com, and Hugh Jackman for me, didn't do enough to be considered a deserving winner. From the bits I have seen of Lincoln, Daniel Day-Lewis is marvellous and is definitely deserving of this award.

Ben Afleck’s film Argo won three awards, including the big one, Best Picture. Again, I haven’t seen Argo, but I mean to, and so my comments will have to be speculative. Best Film Editing is probably deserved, and I didn't think that Zero Dark Thirty or Life of Pi should have won it (as these two were the second favourites for me). I have no major objections to Argo winning Best Adapted Screenplay, but I thought Life of Pi was unlucky to miss out. The adaptation of Argo from the sources that it is based on is fantastic, and likewise, Life of Pi is fantastically adapted from the book. Now Argo was widely tipped to win the Best Picture award, and of the front runners (I thought that Les Miserables, Life of Pi, Lincoln and Zero Dark Thirty were all in with a shout) any of them would be deserving winners. It is a fantastic achievement for Ben Afleck, and settles much of the debate around the Zero Dark Thirty versus Argo arguments. This year though there were a couple of surprises on the nominations list. Silver Linings Playbook raised a lot of eyebrows for its inclusion, as did Amour, and I don’t think either of these were in with a chance. Django Unchained deserved its nomination but it was a bit too controversial to ever really win, and in the end, Argo is probably a very good winner.

Now there are a lot of awards that I don’t really have anything to say about at all. Anna Karenina won Best Costume Design, and yes, the costumes were good in it. Les Miserables won Best Makeup and Hairstyling, and yes, the makeup and hairstyling is very good. Les Miserables also won Best Sound Mixing, which was good. Best Sound Editing caused a bit of a stir as it was the sixth time in the history of the Academy Awards (85 different ceremonies) that two films have been tied for an award. Skyfall (the first Bond film to win an OSCAR) and Zero Dark Thirty won this award, and of the other nominations (Argo, Django Unchained and Life of Pi) I think any of them could have won, because the sound editing was very good in all of them. Skyfall also won the award for Best Original Song, adding another award to Adele’s growing list. This can’t have been a surprise as it was in the charts for such a long time that it was bound to win. Amour won Best Foreign Language Film which isn't surprising considering it was the most widely known on the list. Anne Hathaway won Best Supporting Actress for Les Miserables and this was so unsurprising that I’m fairly sure that if I were a bookie I would have paid out on this before the ceremony began.

On a more positive note, Christoph Waltz won Best Supporting Actor for his role in Django Unchained, and I feel this is definitely deserved. He is simply glittering in the roles that Tarantino writes for him. His mix of humour and incredible acting means that he stands out from the other nominees as the best supporting actor from 2012. This represents a much more light-hearted victor from the Academy, with Tommy Lee Jones many people’s (including mine) favourite choice for the award. Another tip of the hat goes to Quentin Tarantino and Django Unchained for winning Best Original Screenplay. This was up against a number of excellent films like Amour, Flight and Zero Dark Thirty, and winning this award is a move towards a greater appreciation for the comedic yet controversial bloody movie that Tarantino specialises in. I think Zero Dark Thirty was unlucky not to win this award, but Django Unchained is definitely the one to lose out to.

Finally, I thought the decision to give Jennifer Lawrence the award for Best Actress for her role in Silver Linings Playbook was very strange. While it will guarantee her a successful career more than her role in The Hunger Game could ever do I thought that Jessica Chastain was fantastic in Zero Dark Thirty. Now I’m not saying that she did not deserve the award, and I haven’t seen Silver Linings Playbook, so I can’t possibly comment, but I guess when you have nominations for the film in the Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, and Supporting Actor categories the film is doing something right.

As I mentioned, the big winner was Life of Pi with four awards. However I feel that everyone associated with Zero Dark Thirty can be disappointed not to have won more. There is no doubt that this year’s Academy Awards was incredibly close and many films appeared in several different categories, meaning that one would always come off worse. Before I finish writing I would just like to mention the In Memoriam part of the ceremony. Jack Klugman (appeared in 12 Angry Men and Quincy ME), Ernest Borgnine (the original voice of SpongeBob), Eiko Ishioka (winner of Best Costume Design for Bram Stoker’s Dracula in 1992), Richard Zanuck (Driving Miss Daisy) and Larry Hagman (Dallas) all passed away this year, and all will be remembered for their contributions to cinema. Finally, and if nothing else, spare a thought for Michael Clarke Duncan whose most notable film is The Green Mile. He passed away in September at the age of 54 from a heart attack, and he will be sorely missed.

The Dark Knight Rises

The Dark Knight Rises is the climax of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, and in the run up to its release people were eagerly waiting to see if it would live up to the ridiculously high standards set by The Dark Knight. The Dark Knight Rises is incredible, and is the perfect conclusion to this particular run of Batman films.

The start of the film sees Gotham largely crime free since Harvey Dent’s death has provided the police with greater powers. Batman has been outlawed and Bruce Wayne hasn't been seen for eight years. However, out of sight, the mercenary Bane has been gathering support and has built up an underground empire with which to complete the work of the League of Shadows. He holds Gotham to ransom with a nuclear bomb and imprisons Batman in a seemingly inescapable pit. When Batman frees himself he returns to save Gotham. He is tasked with defeating Bane, stopping the bomb and winning over the people.

As with The Dark Knight, I watch this film for the moments that Bane is on screen. While Tom Hardy’s performance has nothing on Heath Ledger’s Joker, and he is nowhere near as scary, Bane is a truly sinister villain, and his adaptation from the comic book character is brilliant. Tom Hardy does an excellent job with Bane, and his dedication to the role cannot be faulted. I especially liked the moment in which Bane breaks Batman’s back, which is lifted directly from a famous Batman comic. Bane’s voice is well worked as well, and definitely fits the character, however there are times when it’s very difficult to understand what is said because of the mask. Also, I often had the feeling that the speech was in fact ‘voiced over’ as it didn't seem like the character was speaking. The difficulty here is that Hardy doesn't really use his eyes to speak a lot of the time. However, I suppose these are problems that inevitably arise with such a character.

I would have liked to see more of Batman in this film to be honest. I understand why he did not feature initially, but compared to the previous two films there was a distinct paucity of Batman scenes. I can only think of two major Batman scenes, and this was disappointing. Nevertheless, I absolutely loved the way that the trilogy was closed. The ending is incredible and I suggest that if you haven’t seen the film now is the point to skip to the next paragraph. Have you? Good. I genuinely thought that Batman had died in this film. It wasn't one of those moments where the character ‘disappears’ and you are meant to think he’s dead, but then he climbs back or whatever. There was genuine disbelief in my mind the first time I saw this, and as the end is slowly revealed to the audience piece-by-piece I get the feelings that come with a huge twist. I thought that killing off Batman was the perfect way to end this trilogy, but when the final scenes came up I was delighted with the end. This was a refreshing change from the superhero films which always plan for a sequel, and was good closure for the film set.

The supporting characters in this film were also excellent. Morgan Freeman is always a welcome appearance on my screen, and Lucius Fox did not disappoint me in this film either. Similarly, Michael Caine is again marvelous as Alfred, and I loved the fact that he and Bruce Wayne had an argument. Instead of being the subservient butler, Alfred is given a chance to show that he’s more than a little annoyed with his master. The character of Miranda Tate was quite good in this film as well. I loved the storyline revolving around her and Bane, and did not see the potential for that at all and was astounded when the pieces slotted into place.

I haven’t forgotten Catwomen, who I thought was fantastic. This Catwoman is a drastic improvement on the Batman Returns Catwoman. She was strong, independent, and a villain/hero in her own right. Anne Hathaway was a wonderful casting choice for this role, and manages to be strong, imposing and immensely attractive all at the same time. The Dark Knight Rises has an edge on many other films because it manages to incorporate more than the one villain and the one hero perfectly. It is an example to films like Spider-man 3, or even Batman & Robin which try to have more villains than can be coped with and as a result the film suffers. Finally, Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a welcome addition to the already glittering cast. His character is very interesting, because there’s a twist around him too. This twist was another one which I did not see coming, but one which I could appreciate. Basically, the thing to take away from the (brief) character analysis is that there are a lot of twists with a lot of characters.

The Dark Knight Rises is a phenomenal film, but I think it suffers a little bit by inevitable comparisons to The Dark Knight. It can’t compare to it, but it shouldn't be judged by it. On its own, and as part of the trilogy, it is a fantastic film. If you’re a Batman fan and you haven’t seen it then there is something wrong with you. Obviously if you have no interest in comic book films then don’t watch it, but if you’re thinking about it, or wanting to watch it, you must see it. I cannot recommend it highly enough.